Richard Cassady

Dr. Cassady is a Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Director of the Freshman Engineering Program at the University of Arkansas, where he has served on the faculty since 2000. From 1996-2000, he served as Assistant Professor of Industrial Engineering at Mississippi State University. He holds a BS summa cum laude, a MS, and a PhD, all in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech.

Dr. Cassady is the only Director in the history of the Freshman Engineering Program. He led the creation of the program, which was intended to address concerns about the retention and graduation rates associated with first-year engineering students at the University of Arkansas. During his time as Director of the program, second-year retention, four-year graduation, and six-year graduation rates (within the College of Engineering) for first-year engineering students have increased by approximately 10 percent.

Dr. Cassady received the 2016 Albert G. Holzman Distinguished Educator Award from the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE). He is an elected member of the University of Arkansas Teaching Academy, and he has received the 2006 Charles and Nadine Baum Faculty Teaching Award from the University of Arkansas, the inaugural Imhoff Outstanding Teacher Award from the College of Engineering (2005), and the 2003 and 2015 Alan O. Plait Award for Tutorial Excellence from the Annual Reliability and Maintainability Symposium (RAMS). He was a participant in the inaugural Frontiers of Engineering Education Symposium hosted by the National Academy of Engineers. He is co-author on the textbook, Probability Models in Operations Research.

Dr. Cassady’s research interests include reliability engineering (with an emphasis in equipment maintenance planning), statistical quality control, and strategic decision-making in sports. His research has been supported by more than $2.5 million in grants and contracts and has resulted in more than 25 journal articles, more than 35 conference papers, more than 70 seminars and presentations, 6 Ph.D. dissertations, 16 M.S. theses, and 5 B.S. honors theses. His research awards include the 2013 Ralph A. Evans-P.K. McElroy RAMS Best Paper Award, the 1999, 2001, 2006 and 2013 Stan Ofthsun Awards for the best RAMS paper authored by a member of the Society of Reliability Engineers, and the 2004 IIE Annual Conference Quality Control and Reliability Best Paper Award.

Dr. Cassady is a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers and the Society of Reliability Engineers, and a member of Tau Beta Pi, Alpha Pi Mu, and the American Society for Engineering Education. He served for 13 years as a member of the RAMS Management Committee, including serving as General Chair for the 2011 Symposium and Chair of the Board of Directors for the 2012 Symposium. He is also a member of the Virginia Tech Industrial and Systems Engineering Advisory Board.

Dr. Cassady’s community service includes robotics education in the Springdale, Arkansas, School District and leadership in FIRST LEGO League Arkansas. He is Regional Co-Partner for FIRST LEGO League Arkansas, and Tournament Director for the FIRST LEGO League Razorback Invitational, a 72-team, international event. He is co-founder and coach of the YoungLings, a FIRST LEGO League team affiliated with Bernice Young Elementary School in Springdale. The YoungLings won four consecutive (2011-2012 thru 2014-2015) FIRST LEGO League Arkansas Championships, and Dr. Cassady received the 2011-2012 FIRST LEGO League Arkansas Adult Coach/Mentor Award. He is also co-founder and coach of Root Negative One, a FIRST Tech Challenge team affiliated with the Don Tyson School of Innovation in Springdale.